The moments that built up the F1 title finale

For the first time since 2021, the Formula One title will be decided in Abu Dhabi.

Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen all have a chance to fight for the crown in the final fifty-eight laps.

There have been many crucial moments in this battle, even starting from the first race of the season.

The rain suddenly poured in the final laps of the Australian Grand Prix, and it was a dash to get back to the pit lane and onto inters.

It was a McLaren 1-2, but nobody could keep their cars on track on slicks.

Norris went off, and it suddenly presented Piastri with an opportunity to take the lead in his home race.

He was unable to do that, spinning onto the grass and falling to finish ninth in what could have been a win.

Norris did not have a mistake-free season either, as he gave Piastri his first-ever championship lead in Saudi Arabia.

Norris put it on the wall in qualifying and struggled to make passes on Sunday, only finishing fourth while Piastri cruised to a win.

Now, we arrive at some races where Verstappen lost points over the summer.

In Spain, he was running third when a late safety car came out.

On the restart, he lost the car around the final corner, was overtaken by Charles Leclerc, and then smashed his car into George Russell a few corners later.

This ended up getting him a ten-second penalty for causing a collision, turning what should have been fifteen points into just one point.

In Austria, Verstappen didn’t even make it through one corner.

At Red Bull’s home race, he found Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes in his sidepod at the first turn and immediately retired from the race.

These two events probably totaled to cost him around 25 points.

At Silverstone, Piastri seemed to be cruising to a win.

That was until a safety car came out, and in an effort to back up the field, he slammed on the brakes.

Amidst complaints from Russell, it ended up getting Piastri a five-second penalty for driving erratically, costing him a win and giving Norris his first home win.

At the Dutch Grand Prix, Piastri was on his way to another win with Norris in second, until the final laps, when Norris had to retire with an engine failure.

This seemed to be a turning point in the championship, as Piastri had strong control at this point.

That control slipped as the season went on, starting in Baku.

Piastri crashed in qualifying and crashed on the first lap of the race, and Verstappen ran away with a win.

A stretch of dominant Verstappen performances ensued, and he found himself back in the title.

McLaren may have started feeling the pressure, as in the US Grand Prix sprint, the two drivers crashed and took each other out at turn one.

Piastri continued to struggle, as he finished 42 seconds behind Norris in fifth and lost the championship lead with Lando’s win in Mexico City.

In Brazil, despite starting from the pit lane, Verstappen found his way onto the podium while Norris won and Piastri finished fifth again.

While Verstappen won the race in Las Vegas, Norris finishing second looked to give him a strong lead over the title of 42 points with two races to go.

However, Max was given one last breath.

As everyone went to bed in America and woke up in Europe, the FIA confirmed that both McLaren drivers were disqualified from the race for plank wear.

That allowed Verstappen to stay within reach, and now going into Abu Dhabi, he only trails by 12 points in a season where he trailed by 104 at one point.

Edison Pellumbi is a first-year student studying broadcast journalism. To contact him, email him at ejp5889@psu.edu.